Christi McGeorge and Tom Stone Carlson, both assistant professors of human development and family science, and Heather Guttormson, former clinic coordinator for the NDSU Family Therapy Center and undergraduate alumna of the Department of Human Development and Family Science, recently had an article titled, "The Feminist Couple Therapy Scale: A Measure of Therapists' Ability to Promote Equality in Couple Relationships," published in the Journal of Feminist Family Therapy.
The study sought to establish the reliability and validity of the Feminist Couple Therapy Scale and assess the degree to which couple and family therapists agreed with principles and utilized practices associated with promoting equality in heterosexual couple relationships. Eighty-nine participants completed the survey developed for this study.
According to the authors, the Feminist Couple Therapy Scale appears to demonstrate good internal reliability and construct validity. While participants reported frequent use of some feminist practices associated with promoting equality, participants were less likely to endorse items directly related to addressing patriarchy, male privilege and gender-based power imbalances.